Michael Gresham: Secrets Girls Keep

Got a killer in your guest room? Michael Gresham is a criminal attorney whose priest has fathered a son. The boy is now 17, acting out, and arrested for first-degree murder. The priest asks Michael to take his son into his home so he can be released on bail. Michael and his wife agree and the boy, with his snake and mice, moves in. One young client who looks guiltier with each new death.

Michael Gresham

Michael Gresham is a criminal attorney with a brother who won't take his meds, an ex-wife who wants him to finance her fertility costs, and a client accused of murdering the wife of a judge. As the story progresses, the brother is being hunted down by MexTel, a huge conglomerate that wants him dead, and the ex-wife's new husband wants to borrow money, while the judge whose wife was murdered suddenly tries to hire Michael Gresham for himself.

Judgment Cometh (and That Right Soon): Joe Dillard Series, Book 8

In the eighth installment of Scott Pratt's best-selling Joe Dillard Series, Dillard is hired to represent the man driving the pickup. As Dillard delves into the case, he comes to believe his client is not guilty. But who is? Who has been kidnapping and killing judges all over the state of Tennessee? The search for that answer leads Dillard and his friend, Sheriff Leon Bates, down a path so dark and so dangerous to a villain so evil, it will change both Joe and Leon forever - if they manage to survive.

Michael Gresham: The Law Partners

Arrested for a murder you didn't commit? Michael Gresham is a criminal attorney who defends his clients with an iron will. They know that when he takes their case, they are probably going to leave the courthouse a free man or free woman. But what happens when the defender becomes the defendant himself? A law partner will have to step up and do for him what he can't do for himself. Isn't that how it should work? Watch up close as a tried and proven criminal defense lawyer is forced to face the most important case of his career.

Murder Corporation: A Crime Thriller

Rookie cop Tommy Boyd learns the hard way that those who wear badges can be as ruthless as those they hunt, when he is taken under the wing of Captain Ty Reeves. Reeves is eager to teach his new rookie that the rules don't apply to his division, the coveted SIS: Special Investigation Section. This is the section of the Las Vegas Metro Police with the most arrests, the most convictions, and the most officer-involved shootings in the history of the city.

The Neon Lawyer

With money and hope in short supply, newly minted attorney Brigham Theodore decides it’s time to lower his standards. He joins a seedy fly-by-night firm in Salt Lake City out of desperation. After he loses his first case - a speeding ticket - he’s convinced his career is over. But to his shock, his boss hands him a slightly more complex case: capital murder.

Plague: A Medical Thriller

A lethal pathogen appears on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Dr. Samantha Bower of the Centers for Disease Control is handed the case and asked to investigate its origins and containment. Samantha discovers a lethal pathogen unlike any she has encountered in her lifetime. Extremely contagious with a mortality rate higher than any disease ever recorded, it is an extinction level event. A man with an intimate knowledge of the microorganism offers her help. But Samantha Bower begins to suspect he is not who he says he is.

Between Black and White: McMurtrie and Drake Legal, Book 2

In 1966 in Pulaski, Tennessee, Bocephus Haynes watched in horror as his father was brutally murdered by 10 local members of the Ku Klux Klan. As an African American lawyer practicing in the birthplace of the Klan years later, Bo has spent his life pursuing justice in his father's name. But when Andy Walton, the man believed to have led the lynch mob 45 years earlier, ends up murdered in the same spot as Bo's father, Bo becomes the prime suspect.

An Innocent Client: Joe Dillard, Book 1

A preacher is found brutally murdered in a Tennessee motel room. A beautiful, mysterious young girl is accused. In this Mystery Readers International finalist for "Best Debut Mystery" criminal defense lawyer Joe Dillard has become jaded over the years as he's tried to balance his career against his conscience.

Blood Money: Joe Dillard Series No. 6

In the sixth volume of the bestselling Joe Dillard series, Dillard does something he has never done before - he hires a young associate. Her name is Charleston Story, she is bright and beautiful, and in her very first case, she winds up inheriting an item so valuable that it threatens to destroy her and everything she cares about. As Dillard tries to help and advise his young protege, he finds himself dragged into a web of danger and intrigue, a web so thick that he may never be able to extract himself.

Exhume

Dr. Annabelle Schwartzman has finally found a place to belong. As the medical examiner for the San Francisco Police Department, working alongside homicide detective Hal Harris, she uncovers the tales the dead can't tell about their final moments. It is a job that gives her purpose - and a safe haven from her former life at the hands of an abusive husband. Although it's been seven years since she escaped that ordeal, she still checks over her shoulder to make sure no one is behind her.

The 7th Canon

In San Francisco's seamy Tenderloin district, a teenage street hustler has been murdered in a shelter for boys. And the dedicated priest who runs the struggling home stands accused. But despite damning evidence that he's a killer - and worse - Father Thomas Martin stands by his innocence. And attorney Peter Donley stands with him.

Black Sky

The Civil War has just ended and world-weary Sheriff Jesse Smith likes his town quiet and peaceful. One night, the body of a young woman is found torn apart, and that peace is shattered as it dawns on him that a predator is among them. With little to go on, all the men in the town are potential suspects, and Jesse begins an investigation that spans the social spectrum. Unable to find the killer, the mayor goes against Jesse's wishes and brings in bounty hunters. But the cure may be more dangerous than the disease.

Presumption of Innocence: David Brunelle Legal Thriller Series # 1

Homicide prosecutor David Brunelle faces the most difficult case of his career. An innocent young girl is murdered in a heinous, unforgivable way. The only evidence against the killer is the full confession of his accomplice - another young girl he also victimized. But the accomplice is charged with the murder as well, which means that she has the right to remain silent. And she's so scared of the killer, she refuses to take a deal to testify against him.

The Defendants

In this debut legal thriller, when Thaddeus Murfee agreed to defend a young woman accused of murdering the man who carved his name in her chest, he thought that he and his new law practice were on their way. However, the Chicago mob schemed to send the young woman to the death chamber in order to cover up its payola with the governor. Thaddeus craves the riches and fame that a successful trial lawyer can have, but he doesn't realize the price he is going to have to pay.

The Professor: McMurtrie and Drake Legal, Book 1

Law professor Thomas Jackson McMurtrie literally wrote the book on evidence in the state of Alabama. But when a power-hungry colleague uses a recent run-in between McMurtrie and headstrong student Rick Drake to end his career, he is left unsure what to do next.

Doubt: Caroline Auden

When Caroline Auden lands a job at a top Los Angeles law firm, she's excited for the challenge - and grateful for the chance to put her dark past as a computer hacker behind her. Right away, her new boss asks her to find out whether a popular GMO causes healthy people to fall ill. Caroline is only supposed to dig in the trenches and report up the ladder, but her tech background and intuition take her further than planned.

Bitter Moon: The Huntress/FBI Thrillers, Book 4

FBI agent Matthew Roarke has been on leave, and in seclusion, since the capture of mass killer Cara Lindstrom - the victim turned avenger who preys on predators. Torn between devotion to the law and a powerful attraction to Cara and her lethal brand of justice, Roarke has retreated from both to search his soul. But Cara's escape from custody and a police detective's cryptic challenge soon draw him out of exile to probe an unsolved murder that could be the key to her long and deadly career.

Blood on the Tracks: Sydney Rose Parnell Series, Book 1

A young woman is found brutally murdered, and the main suspect is the victim's fiancé, a hideously scarred Iraq War vet known as the Burned Man. But railroad police Special Agent Sydney Rose Parnell, brought in by the Denver Major Crimes unit to help investigate, can't shake the feeling that larger forces are behind this apparent crime of passion. In the depths of an icy winter, Parnell and her K9 partner, Clyde - both haunted by their time in Iraq - descend into the world of a savage gang of rail riders.

A Reason to Live (Marty Singer Mystery #1)

In the late 90s, a bad cop killed a good woman and DC Homicide Detective Marty Singer got to watch as the murderer walked out of the courtroom a free man. Twelve years later, the victim's daughter comes to Marty begging for help: the killer is stalking her now. There's just one problem: Marty's retired...and he's retired because he's battling cancer.

Livia Lone

Seattle PD sex-crimes detective Livia Lone knows the monsters she hunts. Sold by her Thai parents along with her little sister, Nason; marooned in America; abused by the men who trafficked them...the only thing that kept Livia alive as a teenager was her determination to find Nason. Livia has never stopped looking. And she copes with her failure to protect her sister by doing everything she can to put predators in prison. Or, when that fails, by putting them in the ground.

Evelyn, After: A Novel

Evelyn Tester is sleepwalking through her suburban life - until a late-night phone call startles her awake. Her husband, a prestigious psychiatrist, has been in an accident. And he isn't alone. Suddenly Evelyn's world isn't as tidy as she thought. And in the midst of it all is Juliette, not only her husband's secret lover but also his patient. If news of the affair were to get out, it would ruin more than just Evelyn's marriage. Although it's a bitter pill for Evelyn to swallow, protecting her family means staying silent.

Jury Master

David Sloane is the best wrongful death attorney in San Francisco. He's a lawyer who can make juries do anything. But despite his professional success, he's plagued by a nightmare of a childhood he cannot consciously remember. When he receives a package from a White House confidant who then turns up dead by apparent suicide, the contents reveal a history he never could have imagined.

All Fall Down

It should have been an idyllic day for the Turner family - until a dying man, beaten beyond all recognition, arrives at their home, uttering the words 'help me'. Rob and Wendy Turner and their children try to explain away the horrific scene as being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but in the days that follow, their lives are threatened in ways they could never imagine. The family is unaware that they are being watched by someone with their own terrifying agenda, who will stop at nothing to fulfil their own twisted desires.

Publisher's Summary

The most vicious murder in a city's history....

A killer stalks the city of San Diego, brutally slaying women on the fringes of society. The body of a young woman torn apart in her bedroom makes even the hardened detectives of the San Diego PD's Homicide Unit tremble with disgust and rage.

A detective with a troubled past....

For SDPD homicide detective Jon Stanton, the young woman is more than just another case. His former partner, Eli Sherman, was the original detective assigned to the case - before he was discovered to be one of San Diego's most ruthless serial killers.

A final chance for redemption....

Stanton was unable to see Sherman for what he was and blames himself for the murders he committed while on the force. Near death, Stanton swears that he will never wear the badge again. But with a depraved killer eluding the best the San Diego PD has to offer, he must once again fight to uncover a killer that leaves no evidence behind, and that has turned his attention to new prey....

Jon Stanton is a reluctant police officer with strong moral fiber and a PhD in Psychology; not a combination likely to make him popular. The department he works in is rife with corruption at the same time a serial killer(s) set up shop in his town. He uncovers the corruption, maintains his integrity despite repeated attempts at compromise, but puts those around him at great risk. It is a fascinating ending for an unusual police story.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

yes, with the twists and turns the author wove into a very believable story about an individual who had strong moral conviction and very poor financial security.

Have you listened to any of Wayne Farrell’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

no

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

My criticism is not with the book itself - it is with the performance.

I've lived in San Diego county for almost 3 decades. I was really looking forward to listening to what seems to be an interesting book, complete with local color! Alas, the listening experience has left me quite unhappy.

In listening to this book, I'd started wondering if the author has come up with an alt-reality San Diego, and exactly where the hell the city of Leeola is. Turns out, it's meant to be La Jolla (phonetically, Lah Hoya). Kind of a big freaking error. Also, nobody in SoCal says shedyool. Hard c schedule here, folks. The 'Britishisms' feel really, REALLY out of place (and anyone who is familiar with Southern CA would know this).

If this story was taking place anywhere other than my home county, I'd most likely be able to get past this, so please take my criticism with a grain of salt. I like the narrator's voice, but it strikes me as inherently lazy that no effort was made to insure that the pronunciation of the names of the cities, if there's any question, are gotten right. As it is, I'm irritated that I bought this book - because I did so based on where it takes place.

Neurotic cop hunting serial killer in San Diego so let's portray him in a bored ironic inflected semi-British voice. The narrator reads "he took two bullets and tumbled off the balcony" exactly the same as "he looked in the refrigerator to see what he had to drink." Oddly, this affectation is only present with the main character. Others in the story are read quite well and sound realistic, including the women, but that's not enough to hold the book together, So I agreed with the narrator that this was all veddy veddy boring and quit listening midway.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Wayne Farrell?

I think Farrell could probably do this book very well, based on how he handled everyone but the main character. Too bad he choose such a ridiculous treatment for the protagonist. If the center doesn't hold, the story collapses.

I have no idea why I finished this book. The narrator was so s-l-o-w and passionless that the book just seemed to crawl along to (finally) nowhere. I rarely criticize a narrator because even a good, plain reading is ok with me.

As for the story, it was basic but so full of characters (mostly corrupt at varying levels) that it was a bit hard to follow. The transitions from one stage to another and from one character to another were abrupt and added to the overall lack of cohesiveness. Moreover, the essential corruption at the core of the policemen portrayed is ill-timed.

I'm sorry I finished the book since it left me with a generalized bad feeling, even sadness.

Question: is this a British book? The book takes place in the U.S. but the pronunciation of many words (e.g., "shh-eh-dule" vs. a hard "c" American "schedule") left doubt.